


Birdsong: Nesting

by Cucumber_McCool



Series: Birdsong [2]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:16:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22381696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cucumber_McCool/pseuds/Cucumber_McCool
Summary: Reader forces Mando to clean up his damn ship!This is just a little (uh not so little) fluffy interlude between chapters while my house gets repairs done to it. Next official chapter will be posted probably Tuesday? (Don’t hold me to that 😖) This side piece isn’t integral to the rest of the story line. However, I wouldn’t call it a stand alone. I think if you read this without having read the rest of Birdsong it might be confusing. It’s very much in my little universe I’ve created. It just didn't feel right putting it with the rest of the Birdsong work? It felt better to post it as a side piece all on its own.
Relationships: The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV) & Reader, The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Reader, The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/You
Series: Birdsong [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1611124
Comments: 6
Kudos: 89





	Birdsong: Nesting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nightlore106](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightlore106/gifts).



> I am dedicating this side piece to the lovely nightlore106! She has been nothing but a total darling to me. She’s so kind and sends me all sorts of inspiration. Her ideas really get me thinking and her lovely comments just absolutely make me so happy that I decided to start posting my work. This side piece was heavily influenced by things she’s commented and I’m very grateful all around for all of the input. One part is heavily inspired by some art that nightlore106 tagged me in on Tumblr. However, neither of us know the original artists as she found the pictures on pintrest. So, I’d like to credit them for some inspiration on this fic but we don’t know who they are. If anyone happens to know who they are I’ll fix this to reflect a proper credit to them as well!
> 
> This community is incredibly kind to each other and I’m so happy for the small readership that I have. Each and every one of you have been so sweet to me and I appreciate every comment, kudo, and bookmark. I adore you all. 💜💜💜 Thank you.

The first time you manage to get him to clean it’s like pulling teeth. The man has no broom, he has no dusters and no real cleaning products. You’re left with a simple multipurpose spray and a single roll of paper towels that he admittedly only really used for the refresher.

“First things first!” You’re looking around the hull. There are boxes and empty jugs. “We move all the heavy stuff out.”

“I guess I can get to that.” He says, starting to push a box down the landing ramp. You don’t mind watching him start to clear the hull out. You can almost see the bulge of his arms and legs as the muscles strain against the cloth under his beskar. You kind of think that he’s half doing it as a sort of work out for himself. You’ve noticed each morning that he does something for exercise whether it was running, practicing combat forms, or body weight exercises. You asked him once why he never takes a day off and he said that ‘a warrior must keep themselves in fighting condition’. You hadn’t minded any. You’d often watch him, smiling to yourself when he’d break from his concentration and ask you if you had anything better to do. He wasn’t used to eyes being on him and the constant of your presence wasn’t too easy for him to get used to. It was the exact opposite for you. When you practiced with your lightsaber the kid would watch you, wide eyes so intrigued. Mando would stop on occasion and watch you practice your forms. He’d called it dancing a few times. You didn’t mind either of them watching. The caretakers in the order you were in watched you religiously. With them you never had a moment alone. At least when Mando and the baby were watching you it was for fun, not to critique you to the point of insanity. However, cleaning was a little different. Cleaning was something that you could help him with. With ease you lifted a few good boxes out of the hull, levitating them out of the ship and into the swaying grass. He instantly stops what he was doing, looks back at you and you thought you felt him glare.

“Oh, come on. If you could do it, wouldn’t you?” Out of the corner of your eye you see an empty fuel can join the boxes you had just set outside. The two of you turn, look to see the child sighing deeply. It didn’t wipe him out but it was still a task that consisted of a lot of focus. “Good job, baby!” You scoop him up, hug him to your chest. He coos, smiling brightly up at you. “Wanna try that again?” You ask and you catch Mando staring at the two of you.

“He’s learning a lot just by watching you.” He says.

“He’s very intuitive.” You agree. You’d noticed his potential from the first time you’d sense his strength. “Though, I don’t doubt he’s already known how to do a few things. I think I can help him learn how to harness things when he wants to.” You’re shifting him to settle over your hip. Between the three of you, baby lifting smaller things, you only manage to get a few more boxes out before Mando is getting a bit panicked. There was something about seeing the hull so empty, all the boxes out in the field around you that causes him to fret.

“I think this is enough to start.”

“Really?” You’re looking around at the hull, the cargo nets that were still strewn about and the jammed doors that hadn’t been open. “I could probably pop a few of those suckers open.” You say, watch as Mando runs up and slams a hand over one door in particular.

“That isn’t necessary. We’ll get to these another day.” He’s staring you down but you can only smile.

“Ok. What’s in that door? A lonely man’s companion?” You raise an eyebrow but he’s shaking his head.

“You open that door and-“

“Yeah? What?” You ask. You won’t believe him for a second if he tries to threaten you. He steps to you and you keep yourself planted.

“I will throttle you.” His voice comes out low, breathy, through the modulator and you cross your arms over your chest.  
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” You step closer to him, grin up at him and you can’t help but think he’s grinning back or possibly blushing. You like the thought of either or perhaps both together. The baby is shrieking with joy and the two of you break from each other, look to see him bending down and picking something up in the hull.

“Hey! What do you have?” Mando’s brushing past you to get to the child and you follow behind.

“Is that?” You start to ask. The baby has in his hand what looks like a pancaked frog. “EW! Get it away from him.”

“Ew? Really?” Mando’s mocking you. He takes the frog out of the baby’s hands before he can shove it in his mouth. “It’s just a dead frog.” He holds it up to you, but you jump back.

“It’s gross!” Your exclamation is causing him to laugh.

“This coming from a woman that cut a man’s arm off and proceeded to knock him out with it.”

“Well. That was in the heat of the battle. Not in my living quarters.” You think Mando’s rolling his eyes under his helmet. He still has the frog stretched out to you and you stare at it, cause it to fly out of his hand and well out of the ship. Frog frisbee and the child stares at it in wonder. “Can we get on with it?” You ask but Mando is crouching down.

“Uh,” Mando starts and you tilt your head. He’s staring at something, something behind the child. It looked like the tail end of a green scribble on the wall.

“What is that?” You ask and Mando pushes back a box. Between the box and the wall there was just enough space for the little baby to fit behind and it looked like he utilized that privacy as best as he could. Behind the box were multiple scribbles. “Ancient cave paintings.” You comment and you watch as baby walks over to his doodles. There’s grass and flowers, clouds. The best part, the part that the baby stops in front of is the three of you. The baby is babbling, placing a hand over Mando. It’s a stick figure version of him, anyway. He’s got his helmet and his long cloak trailing off of him. Then there’s you. It’s another stick figure but it’s most clearly you. You’re holding your lightsaber that the baby adores so much. Between the two of you is the baby. The baby’s still babbling as if he’s telling you what exactly his artistic process was for the whole thing. When neither of you say anything his ears drop back, looks to the two of you, eyes concerned.

“What do we do?” Mando asks and you realize that this is not ok. It’s not paper, it’s the wall.

“Leave it.” You say and Mando nods. The two of you look over the masterpiece, all the little details he’d drawn. “We’ll try and get him some paper but, stars,” You’re smiling at the big smile the baby had drawn for himself over his face, “We can’t get rid of this.”

“He has us all holding hands.” Mando says and you laugh.

“Come here, baby.” You pick him up, settle him onto your lap. You cuddle him to your chest and Mando reaches over, rubs over the top of his head. The baby’s giggling, eyes bright and happy looking up at the two of you.

“I’ll get back to it then.” Mando says, tries to take in the scene of the two of you as long as he can before he’s up and walking off to the boxes again.

It’s a long day and while he’s distracted, digging deep into one of the boxes, you can’t help but stare up at the forbidden door. The child is in front of you, watches as you eye up the door. The baby tilts his head but gets back to his task. You and the child had taken strands of the sweetgrass around you and started to braid it. You had already made a crown for him but was starting on a bracelet too. The baby coos and you glance back at him. He’s trying to tie knots in the grass, trying to make something. You smile down at him.

“Oh wow! Look how pretty!” You encourage him and he looks up at you, smiles and holds it out for you. “Is that for me?” He’s raising his hand up and you accept it from him, wrap it around your wrist, try to tie it.

“Need help?” Mando had been watching for a bit. You look to him, see him with a hand full of something metallic and seemingly worthless.

“Sure!” You call back and he drops whatever it is without a care before walking up to you. He settles himself on the floor with the two of you. It’s a little hard to do something so nimble through his gloves but he manages. “Baby made it for me. Isn’t it precious?” You ask and Mando is smiling through his helmet. You think you can feel it. You tie the braided bracelet around the baby’s wrist and in turn the baby takes the crown off his head and hands it to Mando.

“For me?” He’s looking it over before taking it from the child.

“It’s just the right size for a Mando wrist.” You comment and he laughs.

“Looks like it.” He says, holds his wrist out for you to refasten it around his wrist from its crown form.

“You know,” You hold his wrist there between both of your hands, stare down at it, “sweet grass is used for a lot of different things.” He’s tilting his head at you but you don’t look up. Instead, you’re adjusting the bracelet around his wrist. “Well, it’s said that sweetgrass when braided and worn can help ward off darkness and bring in the light. It’s also good for letting go of things and in turn bringing peace and harmony. Keeping you aligned with the light and making you and your home happier.”

“Is that so?” He sounds like he has one foot in disbelief and another in intrigue.

“I learned about it. Growing up I had a very large library available to me. Since I couldn’t see the galaxy I’d read about different planets, different species, different things.” You say and he turns his hand over, holds your wrist, strokes over the side of it with his thumb. “That’s how I learned about the planet we met on.” You look up at him and you feel breathless. He’d been staring at you and the realization causes you to look away. You can feel your cheeks heating up and you look out to the boxes, at all the contents of them strewn around. “You should get back to it.” You say and he lifts his hand, takes you by the chin. You close your eyes as he presses his helmet down against your forehead.

“It’ll be easier now.” He holds up his wrist. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank the baby.” He lifts his head, places a hand on the child’s head and strokes over it. “Thank you.” He holds up his wrist to the baby, showing him the bracelet. He only coos in response.

\----

The second time you get him to clean it isn’t even his choice. You had stopped off at a vendor and bought up a broom and a duster. As well as anything else you could possibly think of. In turn you had to buy a little baby carrier so that the two of you could carry all your things. The child was happily strapped to Mando’s back. His little hands placed on his dad’s helmet as he glanced around at all the people. You had fashioned your scarf into a little bonnet for him to wear to keep the sun off his little baby head and ears.

“Oh, come on! You can’t make me do this. This is _my_ ship.”

“It became _our_ ship the moment you asked me to stay with you. More so, before I was even around,” You pause, spot a nice stand selling umbrellas, “It was yours _and_ the baby’s ship. Do you want him to collect more frogs so they can rot in your ship without you knowing? Stars! How long did you live with that smell before we found it there?” You ask and he only mumbles to himself.

“What are you getting now?” He asks as you walk up to the umbrella stand. You decide not to go for anything too fancy, a simple large light blue umbrella.

“While you clean me and the baby are going to enjoy the shade.” You say, tucking the umbrella under your arm. It’s a few stalls down that you notice something else. “Here.” You throw some of what you were holding into his arms and he jumbles it around within his grasp.

“What now?” He’s well aware of the looks people are giving him. He’s a Mandalorian, with a baby strapped to his back, being bossed around by an unassuming woman.

“A treat for me and the baby. You think he likes fruity things or milky things?”

“What?” He’s busy staring down a man who can’t seem to keep from laughing. Intimidating glare be damned. With Mando like this he looks as intimidating as cotton candy.

“Hmm… I think vanilla is probably a safe bet.” You’re talking to yourself as you walk up to the stand. You buy a couple of things before stuffing them into your satchel. “Ok we have to rush it now.”

“What did you get?” He asks as you take back some of the things you had handed him.

“Ice cream.”

“You just blew some of our money on ice cream?” He asks and you look up at him with a small smile.

“Mando,” You bite your lip, not really sure how he’ll take it, “I’ve been underpaying or not paying at all for all of this.”

“How?” He’s in utter disbelief.

“Uhh,” You keep walking moving a bit faster, “Mind tricks.”

“What are those?”

“Well, if I’m with someone who has a weak mind I can kind of influence them to do something.” You say and he stops walking and you turn back to him.

“You?” He can’t believe you of all people would do such a thing.

“I’m not perfect. Plus, it saved us money. Are you going to be mad about that?” You tilt your head to him and he starts walking again.

“But you cheated those people out of their money.”

“Only partially,” You glace up at him and can’t tell if he’s mad at you or not, “Mando, I made people let me buy things at a decent price. They were already asking for far more than what the items were worth because we were out of planet-ers.” You scrunch your nose at that last word. He goes quiet for a few minutes, like he’s mulling something over in his mind.

“You don’t do that on me, do you?” He seems like he’s unsure of he even wants the answer.

“Oh,” You look up at him, “No. If I did you wouldn’t be fighting me on cleaning your hull. Not only that but you’re pretty damn bullheaded. Like I said, it can only be done on people that are weak minded.” He’s gone quiet and you sigh softly. “Mando, I would never take away your free will or influence you on anything. I promise you.”

The wind had died down and seemingly your conversation with it. Not far out from the city limits the two of you made your way to the ship. Mando helps plant the umbrella into the sand for you and you settle the little baby down on a towel in the shade. As you reach into your satchel for his little doll, he tries to grab at the ice cream.

“Oh, no, these are for later.” You pull the satchel back, “A treat for doing a good job. Well, a treat for you and me when the sun gets to be too much. But if Mando can be a good boy, maybe he’ll get one too.”

“What is ice cream exactly?” Mando asks and you turn to him, jaw dropping.

“What is ice cream?” You’re walking into the ship that he just dropped the landing ramp on. You’re quick to get the treats into the freezer part of the conservator. “It’s frozen sweet milk, I guess? But churned so that it’s nice and smooth.” You’re trying to think of the right way to explain it. You’d only had it a couple of times since being free. “It’s refreshing and delicious and if you’re a good Mandalorian, you’ll get one.” You’re looking around the hull and sigh for two things. One, there’s sand everywhere. Two, it’s still messy.

“You don’t need to treat me as a child.” He says, walks up onto the ship to look over it along with you.

“Well, you’re being whiney like a child.” You’re settling on opening one of the boxes. It seems like most of them were half full and all with weird things in them. This one seems to have a ton of wires as well as a small metal box. You lean down and pick it up, it rattling as you do.

“Uh,” He’s watching you as you open the box.

“Thingamabobs?” You’re tilting your head. “Do you really need what,” You’re counting them over. “Ten?”

“Uh yeah. Ten.” The way he says it you know he’s hiding something.

“Give them up.” You hold out your hand and he’s shrugging.

“That’s all I have.” You’re lifting your eyebrow at him, ducking back down into the box, moving around the wires until you find another box.

“So, what’s this?” You ask, popping that one open. It’s another box of ten and you look up at him. He’s shrugging and you glare across at him. “Twenty cork screws, Mando? How many do you need?”

“It’s in case one breaks or maybe I lose them.”

“Two boxes of ten?” You’re tilting your head and he’s shrugging again. “You don’t even drink that much!” You point out and he just stares at you. “We’ll pair it down to two and we’ll keep them in one of these cubbies you keep refusing to open.” You say and he looks back at the cabinets.

“It’s not that I refuse it’s that they don’t open. They’re stuck.” He says and you’re eyeing him suspiciously.

“My offer to pop them open still stands.” You say, but he’s stepping towards the doors, positioning himself in front of them. You sigh and turn back to the box of wires and cables. “Can we call this one garbage?” You ask, try to dig down to see if there was anything worth saving. It seems like everything is just a tangled mess.

“Sure.” He’s looking in the box, doesn’t see anything of value himself. It was a lot of give and take for a while. Eventually you clear out a few more boxes. There are only two boxes left. A number that was more than acceptable to you. You had managed to get him to relinquish the cargo nets that were completely tattered. The rest you had folded up neatly and stuck into one of the remaining boxes.

You had intermittently checked on the child throughout the day. He was having a good time in the sand. He was making little piles and letting his doll roll down it. You weren’t sure what kind of imaginary scenarios he was playing out, but you were happy that he was getting along well.

“I think it’s ice cream time.” You say, walking over to the refresher. You stop, seeing what looked like the hilt of a knife on the table. “What’s that?” You ask and Mando looks over.

“That? It’s a broken vibroblade. The blade came off ages ago.” He’s picking it up, activating it. The handle vibrates in his hand but there’s nothing else. “I just found this in a box. I’m pretty sure I saved it with the intent of putting a new blade on it.”

“Maybe don’t put a new blade on it?” You’re eyeing up the handle vibrating in his hands and he’s tilting his head at you. “Look. Don’t worry about it.” You say, pulling the handle from his hand. “I’ll find a use for it.” You lift an eyebrow at the ultrasonic vibrations. You power it off and slip it on top of the buttons panel in your bunk. Mando’s gone completely still, watching as you turn back and go for the conservator.

“What do you have in mind for it?” He sounds breathless and you glance up.

“Don’t worry about it.” You’re only pulling two of the three ice creams out and you can feel his stare still on you. “If you’re really that concerned, I can maybe give you a demonstration.” You hear him draw in a long breath and you shrug, “Sometime. No promises.”

You make your way down the landing ramp, slipping just slightly from the sand coating the floor. You’re quick to regain yourself, slide the rest of the way down the ramp before trotting off to be with the kid. You’ve got Mando entranced. He’s still staring at you, thinking about the vibrohilt, watching as you unwrap your ice cream. A simple cone, ice cream top dipped in chocolate. You’re helping the kid out with his own little bowl of ice cream. He’s got a little wooden spoon to eat his with but it’s still a bit hard for him to maneuver. He doesn’t seem to care though. He’s attacking it face first, holding the sides of it and tipping it up to his face. You’re laughing. When you finally go to take a bite out of your ice cream, well, the second you do. The second you crack that chocolate coating, you’ve got vanilla ice cream dripping down your face, down over your hand. You gasp, bring your free hand down to try and catch the ice cream. Mando’s mouth has gone as dry as the desert around you watching you lick up the liquid from your hand. He tilts his head at how it dribbles down your chin. You’re trying your best to wipe away at the melted ice cream, clean yourself up. He feels completely and utterly perverted. Especially when you finally get back to the ice cream, swirling your tongue over the top scoop. You finally look over at him, make eye contact as you lick over it.

“Can I help you with something, Mando?” You ask and he’s shaking his head, turning back to the boxes he’d promised to finish organizing.

It doesn’t take long in the heat to finish the ice cream. However, you have a different mess to clean up. You and the baby are both sticky and you scoop him up, walk him inside the ship to wash up in the refresher.

“It’s looking good in here.” You call from the refresher. You’re using a small soft washcloth to wipe away the sticky ice cream from the baby’s mouth and hands. He’s pretty much got it all over his face and arms. You laugh, tell him to close his eyes. He does, scrunches them up real tight. “Silly, baby.” You’re cooing down at him. As soon as you’re done, you’re walking back out into the hull, sliding just slightly from the sand. “So, your next task. Clean out the sand.” You say, pointing around the entirety of the hull. “Before you, me, or baby dies by tripping.” He’s sighing deeply.

“I feel like I’ve done so much.”

“Well, I can help dust. And I do still really want to get in those doors.” You’re pointing up at them, “We could really use their storage space and-“ Before you really know what’s happening _the_ door is flying open and its contents drop out over the floor. You watch as a box flies out of it. You look down at the baby in your hands, his hand is lifted in the direction of the doors. He only looks up at you and smiles, cooing softly. Mando on the other hand is on the move. You’re quick to realize just what he’s going for and focus on the wooden box, pull it to yourself. Mando slides over the sand and is quick to change direction to get to you. You have no clue what it could be but the box itself is rosewood, a sweet floral scent blooming from the wood. It has a circular golden clasp to hold it shut and the top has a bird carved into it. Whatever it was, the box alone made it look incredibly valuable.

“Mando, what’s in the box?” You ask but he’s there in front of you in a flash and yanks it from your grasp. “Mando!” You settle the child down on the table and turn back to Mando. You’re about to try and take the box back when you start slipping on the scattered sand. You’re quick to grab him and he’s got you with his free arm around your waist. He tries to steady you but as he takes a step back, he slips on sand himself. The two of you go down with a loud BANG! Him breaking your fall would have been nice if it weren’t for the hard beskar that you smack against. You groan, chin having hit his breast plate.

“You ok?” He’s sitting up, and you move to straddle his lap.

“I’m fine.” You let him feel over your chin, “Mando. No injury is really that big of a deal for me.”

“You’ve got a bruise.” His voice is so tender and you close your eyes and suddenly said bruise is gone. You open your eyes, his hand at your chin still stroking. “Do you realize how fascinating you are?” He asks and you feel your cheeks heat up.

“I’m not.” You whisper and he shakes his head.

“Stop.” He says, presses his helmet to your forehead, “You are.” You wrap your arms around his neck, feel him wrap his arms around your waist. Take that tender moment to grab up the damn box that he had abandoned at his side. “Hey!” You’re quick to hop off his lap. He grabs at your thighs, looks up at you from his seat on the floor. “Please, please.” He’s begging you and you look from him to the box in your hands.

“What is it Mando?” You can see something poking out from the box. The smallest corner of a piece of black fabric.

“It’s nothing.” He says and you slowly hand the box back down to him. He sighs softly as you help him up to his feet. “It’s just…” He’s sliding a gloved hand over the top of the box, making sure it’s free of dust and sand before he’s putting it away in it’s proper cubby. “Something special.” He’s turning away from it and picking up the broom. “It’s almost dinner. We should hurry up and get this place clean or we’ll be eating sand.” He says. He doesn’t turn to you, just starts sweeping away. You grab up the duster and set to work. You’re climbing up on one of the remaining boxes, starting to dust sand off from the top of a ledge.

“There’s just one thing.” He says and you turn around, look down at him. His hands are clasped together on the end of the broom. He holds a hand out to you and he helps you down, pulls you close to him. “I’ve been thinking about it, but I didn’t know how to tell you.” You can feel him gazing at you and you want to ask him what it is, but for once you can’t find your voice. “If I don’t do this now, it’s going to bother me for the rest of the day.” He brings his hand up to gently press under your jaw, swipes his thumb over your cheek. When he moves his hand away you can see he’s swiped a bit of ice cream up from your cheek. How you had managed to miss it, you don’t know. He lifts his thumb, slips it under his helmet. “It is delicious.” He’s cupping your cheek again. His thumb is damp, wiping over where the ice cream had been. “I look forward to eating it later.” His voice is hot and thick. You can feel it despite it passing through the modulator. You feel something press against your thigh, you gasp, and the two of you look down. The broom had fallen down between the two of you, the end of it poking your thigh. He grabs up the handle of it and turns away from you. Leaves you standing there.

“I hate you.” You mumble but he doesn’t turn around. He just laughs as he sweeps away.

**Author's Note:**

> Cross Posted to Tumblr under Cucumber-McCool


End file.
